CES has a field station at Ganjam in southern Orissa, mainly to monitor olive ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery. CES has been monitoring nesting populations of olive ridleys at this rookery since 2008, which includes censuses of mass nesting events or ‘arribadas’ in collaboration with the Forest Department. CES has also monitored populations of turtles in offshore waters since 2011. A small number of nests (~ 30) are relocated to a hatchery each year to monitor nest temperatures towards studying the impacts of climate change on hatchling sex ratio. Other biological parameters such as adult morphometrics, adult mortality and hatching success are also monitored regularly.

The field station for the Rushikulya turtle monitoring camp is located 2 km from the beach in Ganjam town. It is a single-storied independent house equipped with all the necessary amenities including a well maintained kitchen, garden, running water, electricity backup and wireless Internet. Currently the field station is used mainly during the nesting season of the olive ridleys (December-May) and for other short visits. The field station is maintained throughout the year with the help of our local field staff. For more information, contact Kartik Shaker (kshanker@ces.iisc.ernet.in) or Murali (muralim86@gmail.com).

View CES field-stations in a larger map